Piano-action.



H. L. WEST. PIANO ACTlON. APPLICATION mtu' lu. 9, 95.

Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

Jmw.

" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARVEY I. WEST, OFELGINyILLINOS.

v Piano-Action. i

To all whom it may concern: F

Be it known that I, HARVEY Li WE T, a citizen of the United States, and a ,resident ofElgin, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Piano-Actions; and I do hereby cleclare that the following is a full, clear, and -exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification. mv

This invention relates to piano actions and refers more specifically to improvements in the Springs by which the dampers are pressed against the strings and which yield to permit the dampers to be swung away from the springs when the keys are depressed.

Among the objects of the invention is to reduce the cost'of the damper mechanism.

a A further object of the invention is to produce a damper controlling spring which is connected to the damper lever in such way as to avoid squeaking noises due to the engagement of the spring with the damper lever. l

Another Object of the invention is to produce a novel non-shrinkable damper block which will avoid accidental detachm ent of the damper pad or pads from the block.

Other objects of the invention are to simplify and improve damper nechanisms, and the-invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:-Figure 1, is a partial sectional and partial elevation of parts of a piano action showing my invention applied thereto. F ig. 2 is an enlargecl side view of the elements which constitute the damper. Fig. 3 is an enlarged front elevation thereof. Fig. -QL is a side elevation of the damper controlling Springs. i

The upright piano action illustrated in Fig. l of the drawings is of standard type and need not be specifically described except` as to the parts which are immediately associated with the damper nechanism, As shown in the drawings, 10 designates one of the piano keys, 11 the abstract or lifter rod which bears at its lower end against the key and is pivotally connected to a rail 12 through the medium of a link 14. 15 designates a swinging bar or. wippen which 1s` loosely mounted on the upper end of the ab- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application fie'd January 9, 19152 seral no. 1,235.

Patented Jan. 11 1916.

'composed usually of a felt pad or pads attached to a damper block 26. r Said damper block is of special construction, as will hereinafter be described. It is carried by the upper end 'of a lever 27, herein shown as made partly of wire and partly of a wood or other fibrous bar 28. The lever is pivoted at 29 to a flange or block 30 which is mounted on, and secured to the action rail 18.`

The lower end of said 'damper lever is in position to be engaged by the usual spoon 31 which is attached to the wippen 15 in rear of its pivot 16; the arrangement being such that when the abstract is raised by the key '10 to bring the hammer against the string said spoon engages the damper lever to swing the damperforwardly away from the string just before it is struck by the hammer. F orward. "swinging movement of the damper is limited by a stop 31'.

32 designates, as a whole, a spring which acts against the damper lever to normally press the damper against its associated string, Said spring, in the form herein shown, consists of a piece of rounded wire which is anchor'ed at its lower end to a pin 33 carried by the block 'or flange 30. The upper end'of the spring bears against the upper end of the wood portion 28 of the' a damper lever. In accordance with my inthe lever is a point engagement as distinguished from asliding engagement. To this end, the upper end of the spring wire isbent rearwardly to constitutev an engagement point 34 which enters a shallow notch or recess 35 in the' forward face of the said portion 28 of the damper lever. In order to ,increase the resiliency of the spring at its upper end near its point of contact with said lever, and to prevent tendency of the spring to break at this point, I may form said spring at the junction of the contact point 34 and the shank of the springwith a coil 36, said coil having one or more turns,

as desired. It is to be understood, however, that, so far as the broader features of my invention are concerned, I may emply any other means for giving the desired resiliency to the spring at this point and for avoiding tenclency of the spring,` to break under ccntinuous flexure. The coil or other method of enhancing the resiliency of the spring has the further effect of preventing the buckling of the spring in a manner tending to snap the upper end thereof out of engagement with the damper lever. The lower terminal of the spring 37 below the coil 38, by which latter it may be conveniently attached to the pin 33, is also sprung upwardly from the position shown in Fig. 4 when placed in the said block or flange so that the compression thus placed upon the spring thus forces the upper end thereof rearward'ly. Thus when the spring is in place it acts on the damper bar to nornally hold the damper against the piano string.

Heretofore it has been a common practice to provide the upper end of the portion 28 of the damper lever with a paddcd recess to receive the upper end of the damper controlling spring. This has neoessitated a special construction of the upper end of the damper lever, and has also necessitated the use of a felt or like cushioned pad in said recess. The construction herein shown may, therefore, be produced at less expense than said prior construction. The prior construction is also open to the objection that the sliding of the upper end of the springon the felt or other pad causes the latter, in time, to harden to such extent that the moving contact between the pad and the spring` causes an objectionable squeaking noise. In the present construction the liability of such squeaking noise is entirely eliminated.

The damper block 26, herein shown, is of special construction, and has been designed' with a view to avoiding shrinkage which often occurs with the ordinary wood damper block and which frequently has the effeot to loosen the attachment of the damper pads. The block herein shown is made principally of metal. It consists of a U-shaped piece 40 of strap metal, and is provided with registering openings to receive the upper end of' the wire portion of the damper lever. The block may be fastened to the damper lever by neans of a screw 41 which is screwthreaded through the closed end of the U- shaped member and bears at its rear end against said lever. The rear ends of the U-shaped member 40' are turned inwardly, as shown at 42, to engage opposing grooves in a member 4-3, preferably made of felt or other soft material. To this member 43 is attached a vertically elongated head 44: to which the damper pads 25 are fixed in any suitable manner, as by means of glue. The member 43 is gripped between the ends of the U-shaped member 40 by means of screw 4-5 which extends through one arm of the U-shaped member and is screw-threaded to the other arm thereof.

It will be understood that the structural details of the embodiment of my invention herein disclosed may be varied within the spirit and scopc of the broader claims hereto attached, and that the invention is not limited to such details except as made the subject of specific claims and as imposed by the prior art.

I claim as my inventionz- 1. In a piano acti'on, the combination with a damper lever and a support to which it is pivoted, of a controlling spring for said lever anchored to said support and having a point pivotal engagement with the lever between the support and the damper end of the lever.

2. In a piano action, the combination with a damper lever and a support to which it is pivoted, of a spring anchored at one end to said support and entering at its other end a recess in the lever for point pivotal contact with the bottom of the recess and formed to provide near its latter end a coil to increase the flexibility of the spring.

3. In a piano action, the combination with a damper head provided with a yielding, non-shrinkable projection, of a damper block having means to clamp it to said yielding projecticn to constitute a connection be' tween the block and head.

l. In a piano action, the combination with a damper head provided with a yiclding non-shrinkable projection, of a U-shaped resilient damper block and clamping` means acting thereon to clamp the block to said projection.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses, this ?nd day of January, A. D. 1915.

HARVEY L. WEST.

VVtnesses:

TV. L. HALI., G. E. DowLE.

Copies of this patent may be obtaied for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G." 

